Three Questions

~You're probably sick of seeing all the crap that's being spewed out by the media regarding the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, so I'll try to keep this short and to the point. Five years on, a great deal has changed. On this anniversary, I have three burning questions that few want to address:

1) Just a few days after the attacks, the FBI admitted that several of the suspected suicide hijackers were alive and well, protesting their innocence from across the globe. One is a Saudi airline pilot, and another is a telecommunications engineer. I'm sure you've all seen the mugshots of the evil Arab hijackers that sacrificed themselves in the name of Allah to murder the infidel Americans...except that the list of hijackers, it seems, is inaccurate.

^ These men have accomplished the incredible feat of killing themselves in a suicide attack and somehow not dying! Amazing!

Which begs the question...if these men weren't the hijackers, just who the hell was on those planes? This is not some wacko conspiracy theory, this is the FBI. But I'm sure hardly anyone has even heard about this.

2) Just two days after the attacks, our Great and Powerful Leader stated that Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaida, was the primary suspect behind the attacks, and said that capturing or killing him was his #1 priority. "I want justice," said the President, "Dead or Alive." [Read it here]

How bold and macho! How forthright and decisive! Except that just a few months later, at a press conference, the President said, "You know, I just don't spend that much time on him...to be honest with you." [Read the transcript HERE]. Indeed he hasn't, as the ongoing combat in Afghanistan (remember that place?) continues to claim American lives, the Taliban are still active, and Al-Qaida still on the loose and churning out venomous messages for global Jihad.

Which begs the question, what happened to Osama Bin Laden, public enemy #1? Is he alive or dead? And why is it that he seems to have been forgotten in favor of...

3) Iraq. The question here is, why did we invade? At first, it was to find the Legendary Weapons of Mass Destruction, which turned out to have been nonexistent, the evidence for them a "sexed-up" patchwork of lies and fabrications.

Then, it was because Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with Osama. Except that a recent U.S. Senate report indicates that Hussein considered Al-Qaida a threat to his rule in Iraq (committed as they are to an Islamic Empire), and was hardly inclined to cooperate with them.

Then, it was because Saddam was a brutal dictator who tortured his people and had to be removed, unlike all the other dictators that America has supported.

^ Dec 20,1983, Day 147 of the David Calendar [click image to play video, no sound]: Donald Rumsfeld shakes hands with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, finalizing an agreement for U.S. technical, financial, and agricultural support of Iraq in their war against Iran. Although Iraq used chemical weapons at this time, this fact was overlooked in light of Iraq being our ally. That is, until we needed a reason to attack them.

On a more pragmatic note, the invasion is most likely about control of an unstable region containing most of the world's oil...which I actually consider to be an important and reasonable goal. But the situation is absurdly corrupt and violence is out of control. So I ask again, is there a clear mission here? Oh, wait, the mission has already been accomplished. Never mind.

~So take a moment to think about where your country is headed on this most-stupidly named "Patriot Day". Real patriots ask questions instead of toeing the line and believing everything they're told. I remember the day after the attacks--my friends and I were ready to do anything, and I mean anything, we were told by the Powers that Be.

I remember some friends seriously considering joining the army (look at where they'd be now, and if they'd even be alive, fighting in Iraq). It was like Pearl Harbor must have been. It was scary, but in the 20/20 vision granted by hindsight, it was more than just disturbing and terrifying. It was a perfect opportunity to delude angry people into doing whatever you wanted them to do.

I'm sure many of my older readers are shaking their heads now. "He's just a young man," you're thinking, "he will soon learn that there's nothing he can do, and that it's all far beyond anyone's control. Just let it be and get on with your life." The sad thing is, you're probably right. Just keep in mind that people my age are going to have to live with the nightmare that people of your age have created. Sometimes I think I should just stay in Japan.

Links:

Current Cost of Iraq War (that's ~$100,000 per minute! Interestingly, adjusted for inflation, it's cost more than America spent on World War 1 and has lasted longer than World War 2)

Current Number of U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq (most deaths occurring after "Mission Accomplished")

I hope I didn't alienate too many readers with the political rantage! I'm just trying to get you to think. ~Oyasumi.